AICF’s 2021 Annual Report highlights the incredible work made possible thanks to AICF’s supporters. View it here.

AICF’s audited financial statements are available to the general public and are generated in accordance with industry best practices and applicable laws governing non-profit organizations. The audit is conducted by an independent accountant with the oversight of the Board of Directors’ Audit Committee. The most recent audited financial statements may be downloaded here.

AICF’s most recent Form 990 tax filing is available for download here. The Form 990 is reviewed by the Finance Committee of the Board of Directors prior to its annual filing.

AICF does not have any outstanding loans to or from officers of the organization.

AICF has a policy of keeping all donor information private, and does not sell, rent, or share its mailing lists. All donor information is kept securely and disclosed only by what is required by state and federal law.

AICF has a detailed investment policy, and all financial matters are under the direct purview of the Board Treasurer and Finance Committee. To request a copy of the organization’s investment policy, please contact Keith Miscione, Controller.

Board meeting minutes are distributed for the review and approval of the Board of Directors following each meeting, and are made available upon request to directors, government officials, and others with the legal right to view them in accordance with applicable non-profit law.

Whenever a director or officer of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation has a financial or personal interest in any matter coming before the board of directors, the board shall ensure that:

• The interest of such officer or director is fully disclosed to the board of directors.
• No interested officer or director may vote or lobby on the matter or be counted in determining the existence of a quorum at the meeting of the board of directors at which such matter is voted upon.
• Any transaction in which a director or officer has a financial or personal interest shall be duly approved by members of the board of directors not so interested or connected as being in the best interests of the organization.
• Payments to the interested officer or director shall be reasonable and shall not exceed fair market value.
• The minutes of meetings at which such votes are taken shall record such disclosure, abstention, and rationale for approval.

America-Israel cultural Foundation, Inc. (the “Foundation”) requires its directors, officers and employees to observe high standard of financial reporting, business and ethical behavior in the conduct of their duties and responsibilities. To help ensure that the Foundation complies with such standards, the Finance Committee recommends and the Board of Directors establishes the following procedure for the reporting of illegal or unethical conduct in connection with the Foundation’s finances or other aspects of its operations, and the retention and treatment of such complaints, including confidential, anonymous submissions received from employees.

Should any person know or have a reasonable belief that persons associated with the Foundation plan to engage or have engaged in illegal or unethical conduct in connection with the finances or other aspect of the Foundation’s operations, that person should immediately file a complaint with the Executive Director (a “Complaint”). Employees of the Foundation may submit Complaints on a confidential, anonymous basis. If the Complaint concerns the Executive Director or the complainant is not comfortable reporting to the Executive Director, then the complainant should notify the President, Treasurer or other Officer or Director instead.

The Executive Director, President, Treasurer or other Officer or Director will report all Complaints to the chair of the Finance Committee, Executive Committee or a member of the Board, or if the chair is the subject of the Complaint, to another member of the committee, prior to the next scheduled meeting. Reports to the chair or other committee member or to a Director will include a copy of the Complaint, its date, nature and source (unless the complainant is an employee who has requested confidentiality and/or anonymity), how it was communicated, whether the Executive Director or President, Treasurer or other Officer or Director, regards the Complaint as credible, and proposals to address it. The chair or other committee member will promptly report the Complaint to the full committee, except that the Complaint will not be shared with an individual who is the subject of the Complaint. Likewise, if a Complaint is reported to a Director, she or he will promptly report the Complaint to the full Board, except to any individual who is the subject of the Complaint. All credible allegations will be followed up promptly, with a further investigation conducted if needed to resolve disputed facts. In conducting its investigations, the Foundation will respect an employee’s request for confidentiality and/or anonymity and will strive to keep the identity of other complainants as confidential as possible, consistent with the need to conduct an adequate review and investigation.

The committee to which a Complaint has been reported will inform the Board if any Complaint is confirmed, or if the committee otherwise believes that the Board should be made aware of the situation. The committee will have ultimate authority over the treatment of any Complaints reported to it, subject to the Board’s oversight. The committee or, in the case of Complaints reported to the full Board, the Board will ensure that records of all Complaints are maintained in accordance with the Foundation’s document retention policy.

The Foundation will take appropriate action in response to any Complaints, including, but not limited to, disciplinary action (up to and including termination) against any person who, in the Foundation’s assessment, has engaged in misconduct and reporting such misconduct to the relevant civil or criminal authorities as required by law.

The Foundation will not knowingly, with the intent to retaliate, take any action harmful to any person, including interference with lawful employment or livelihood, for reporting a Complaint in good faith pursuant to this policy or to law enforcement officers, governmental agencies or bodies, or persons with supervisory authority over the complainant. Likewise, there will be no punishment or other retaliation for providing information regarding a Complaint in good faith to, or otherwise assisting in any investigation regarding a Complaint conducted by, the Foundation, law enforcement officers, governmental agencies or bodies, or persons with supervisory authority over the complainant. Finally, there will be no punishment or other retaliation for filing a Complaint in good faith, or otherwise participating or assisting in a proceeding filed or about to be filed (with any knowledge of the Foundation) regarding any Complaint. An individual who deliberately or maliciously provides false information may be subject to disciplinary action (up to and including termination).

AICF’s Document Retention policies are in line with all applicable regulations and recommended best practices, and are as follows:

CORPORATE RECORDS:

Articles of Incorporation (Permanent)
Board Meeting and Board Committee Minutes (Permanent)
By-Laws (Permanent)
Board Policies/Resolutions (Permanent)
IRS Application for Tax-Exempt Status (Permanent)
IRS Determination Letter (Permanent)
State Sales Tax Exemption Letter (Permanent)
Charitable Registration Statements (Permanent)
Correspondence (Legal & other important matters) (Permanent)
Trademarks, Copyrights & Patents (Permanent)
Deeds (Permanent)
Whistleblower Complaints (Permanent)
Press Releases & Other Historical Records (Permanent)
All Legal Records (Endowments, Trusts, etc.) (Permanent)
Contracts, Leases, etc. (after expiration) (7 Years)

 

ACCOUNTING RECORDS

Audited Financial Statements (Permanent)
Auditor Management Letter (Permanent)
Depreciation Schedules (Permanent)
General Ledger (Permanent)
Insurance Policies (Permanent)
Pension Programs (Permanent)
Employment & Termination Agreements (Permanent)
Employee Handbooks (Permanent)
Journal Entries (7 Years)
Accounts Payable Invoices (7 Years)
All Payroll Records (registers, W-2’s, etc.) (7 Years)
Employee Personnel Files (after termination) (7 Years)
Bank Statements and Cancelled Checks (7 Years)
Donor Acknowledgements Letters (7 Years)
403 (b) Funds Transmittal Forms (7 Years)
Investment Reports & Statements (7 Years)
Form 1099’s (7 Years)
Cash Receipts Journals& Bank & Credit Card Deposit Slips (3 Years)
Bank Reconciliations (3 Years)

 

INFORMATION RETURNS

Form 990 & Attachments (Permanent)
Form 5500 & Attachments (Permanent)
Form TD F 90-22.1 Report on Foreign Bank & Financial Accounts (Permanent)
All State Information/Tax Returns (Permanent)
All records are stored in a place and manner determined by the Director of Finance

 

ELECTRONIC INFORMATION

Electronic documents will be retained as if they were paper documents. Therefore, any electronic files that fall into one of the document types on the above schedule will be maintained for the appropriate amount of time. If an employee has sufficient reason to keep an e-mail message, the message should be printed in hard copy and kept in the appropriate file or moved to an archive computer file folder.

All servers will be backed up and the information stored off premises on a basis to be determined by the Information Technology Department (IT).

Deleted e-mails by employees remain in AICF’s computer system. The IT Department will be responsible for permanently removing deleted e-mails from the computer system every two weeks.

 

DOCUMENT DESTRUCTION

The Director of Finance is responsible for the ongoing process of identifying the records that have met the required retention period and overseeing their destruction. The method of destruction will be determined by the Director of Finance but shredding of financial and employee records are mandatory.

Document destruction will be suspended immediately upon any indication of an official investigation or when a lawsuit is filed or appears imminent. Destruction will be reinstated upon the conclusion of the investigation/lawsuit.

 

COMPLIANCE

Failure on the part of employees of AICF to follow this policy can result in possible civil and criminal sanctions against AICF and its employees and possible disciplinary action against responsible individuals. The Director of Finance and the Finance Committee of the Board will periodically review these procedures with legal counsel and AICF’s certified public accounting firm to ensure that it is in compliance with new or revised regulations.

The compensation of the Chief Executive Officer of AICF is subject to annual review prior to and during the organization’s yearly Budget Meeting. The CEO undergoes an annual formal review with the Board President. Compensation is in line with that of executive leaders of comparable organizations.